Integrated paving process control for a paving operation

Abstract

Process control for a paving operation is facilitated by obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system and distributed over a surface to be paved. The paving material conveyance information includes data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time and data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, both of which are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the data is acquired. Incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed is determined to facilitate process control in the paving operation.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the method comprising:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, by the processor, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation, wherein the determined incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed comprises determined weight of the paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period; 
 receiving inbound paving material information indicating a quantity of paving material to be received and laid as part of the paving operation, wherein the weight of paving material delivered to the screed corresponds to a weight of paving material indicated on a weight ticket of the inbound paving material information, the weight ticket corresponding to at least a portion of the quantity of paving material indicated by the received inbound paving material information; and 
 responsive to determining that the determined weight of the paving material delivered to the screed matches the weight of material indicated on the weight ticket, indicating by the inbound paving material information that the weight of paving material indicated on the weight ticket was consumed, and correlating a truck released witness point in time to the weight ticket to indicate a point in time at which the weight of paving material indicated on the weight ticket was consumed. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising automatically determining, based on the truck released witness point in time, an estimated time of arrival of the truck back to a paving material production plant, and providing the estimated time of arrival to the paving material production plant to facilitate control of paving material production at the paving material production plant. 
     
     
       3. A method for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the method comprising:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, by the processor, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation; 
 obtaining incremental screed width data indicating width of one or more portions of the screed for the points in time during the time period, and obtaining incremental distance data indicating distance traveled by the paver during the time period; 
 determining based on the obtained incremental screed width data and incremental distance data an area of the surface paved during the time period; and 
 determining, based on the determined incremental quantity of material delivered to the screed and the determined area of the surface paved, paving material yield at one or more spots of the surface. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein determining material yield at a spot of the surface comprises:
 determining a quantity of material deposited to the spot of the surface, and determining an area of the spot of the surface based on the obtained incremental screed width data and the incremental distance data; and 
 dividing the determined quantity of material deposited to the spot of the surface by the area of the spot of the surface. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 3 , further comprising providing the determined material yield as material yield information to at least one of a quality control system or a paver control system to facilitate an adjustment to one or more paving operation parameters. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising automatically adjusting the one or more paving operation parameters based on a target material yield for the paving operation. 
     
     
       7. A method for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the method comprising:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, by the processor, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation; 
 obtaining location information indicating location of the paver at the points in time during the time period; 
 obtaining paved mat dimensional information, the paved mat dimensional information comprising linear distance traveled by the paver, width of one or more portions of the screed over the linear distance traveled by the paver, and incremental quantity of material for the points in time during the time period; and 
 associating the paved mat dimensional information with the location information to obtain a time-referenced material placement map, the time-referenced material placement map comprising a departure dimension corresponding to the linear distance traveled by the paver, a screed width dimension corresponding to width of the one or more portions of the screed over the linear distance traveled by the paver, and a yield dimension indicating one or more quantities of material delivered to the screed and laid at various spots of the paved mat, and the time-referenced material placement map indicating timing of delivery of the one or more quantities of material to the various spots of the paved mat. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the time period corresponds to a pull completed by the paver, the pull being defined by positioning of the screed, wherein lowering the screed defines a beginning of the pull and raising the screed defines an end of the pull, and wherein the method further comprises repeating the obtaining paving material conveyance information and the determining incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for one or more additional pulls of the paver during the paving operation. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 determining, based on the time-referenced material placement map and further based on one or more parameters of a compaction effort for compacting the paving material after placement on the surface, roller guidance information to facilitate controlling operation of a roller, wherein the roller guidance information indicates current roller position of the roller and proper roller positioning of the roller on the time-referenced material placement map; and 
 providing the roller guidance information to the roller to facilitate proper compaction of the paving material. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising providing the roller guidance information to a quality control system for controlling the one or more parameters of the compaction effort. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising obtaining temperature information from the paver, the temperature information indicating incremental temperature of the paving material being delivered to the screed, and wherein the roller guidance information is further determined based on the obtained temperature information. 
     
     
       12. A computer system for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the computer system comprising:
 a memory; and 
 a processor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation, wherein the determined incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed comprises determined weight of the paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period; 
 receiving inbound paving material information indicating a quantity of paving material to be received and laid as part of the paving operation, wherein the weight of paving material delivered to the screed corresponds to a weight of paving material indicated on a weight ticket of the inbound paving material information, the weight ticket corresponding to at least a portion of the quantity of paving material indicated by the received inbound paving material information; and 
 responsive to determining that the determined weight of the paving material delivered to the screed matches the weight of material indicated on the weight ticket, indicating by the inbound paving material information that the weight of paving material indicated on the weight ticket was consumed, and correlating a truck released witness point in time to the weight ticket to indicate a point in time at which the weight of paving material indicated on the weight ticket was consumed. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The computer system of  claim 12 , wherein the computer system is further configured to perform:
 automatically determining, based on the truck released witness point in time, an estimated time of arrival of the truck back to a paving material production plant, and providing the estimated time of arrival to the paving material production plant to facilitate control of paving material production at the paving material production plant. 
 
     
     
       14. A computer system for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the computer system comprising:
 a memory; and 
 a processor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation; 
 obtaining incremental screed width data indicating width of one or more portions of the screed for the points in time during the time period, and obtaining incremental distance data indicating distance traveled by the paver during the time period; 
 determining based on the obtained incremental screed width data and incremental distance data an area of the surface paved during the time period; and 
 determining, based on the determined incremental quantity of material delivered to the screed and the determined area of the surface paved, paving material yield at one or more spots of the surface. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the computer system is further configured to perform providing the determined material yield as material yield information to at least one of a quality control system or a paver control system to facilitate an adjustment to one or more paving operation parameters. 
     
     
       16. A computer system for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the computer system comprising:
 a memory; and 
 a processor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation; 
 obtaining location information indicating location of the paver at the points in time during the time period; 
 obtaining paved mat dimensional information, the paved mat dimensional information comprising linear distance traveled by the paver, width of one or more portions of the screed over the linear distance traveled by the paver, and incremental quantity of material for the points in time during the time period; and 
 associating the paved mat dimensional information with the location information to obtain a time-referenced material placement map, the time-referenced material placement map comprising a departure dimension corresponding to the linear distance traveled by the paver, a screed width dimension corresponding to width of the one or more portions of the screed over the linear distance traveled by the paver, and a yield dimension indicating one or more quantities of material delivered to the screed and laid at various spots of the paved mat, and the time-referenced material placement map indicating timing of delivery of the one or more quantities of material to the various spots of the paved mat. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The computer system of  claim 16 , wherein the computer system is further configured to perform:
 determining, based on the time-referenced material placement map and further based on one or more parameters of a compaction effort for compacting the paving material after placement on the surface, roller guidance information to facilitate controlling operation of a roller, wherein the roller guidance information indicates current roller position of the roller and proper roller positioning of the roller on the time-referenced material placement map; and 
 providing the roller guidance information to the roller to facilitate proper compaction of the paving material. 
 
     
     
       18. A computer program product for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the computer program product comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions for execution by the processor to perform a method comprising:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, by the processor, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation, wherein the determined incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed comprises determined weight of the paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period; 
 receiving inbound paving material information indicating a quantity of paving material to be received and laid as part of the paving operation, wherein the weight of paving material delivered to the screed corresponds to a weight of paving material indicated on a weight ticket of the inbound paving material information, the weight ticket corresponding to at least a portion of the quantity of paving material indicated by the received inbound paving material information; and 
 responsive to determining that the determined weight of the paving material delivered to the screed matches the weight of material indicated on the weight ticket, indicating by the inbound paving material information that the weight of paving material indicated on the weight ticket was consumed, and correlating a truck released witness point in time to the weight ticket to indicate a point in time at which the weight of paving material indicated on the weight ticket was consumed. 
 
 
     
     
       19. A computer program product for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the computer program product comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions for execution by the processor to perform a method comprising:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, by the processor, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation; 
 obtaining incremental screed width data indicating width of one or more portions of the screed for the points in time during the time period, and obtaining incremental distance data indicating distance traveled by the paver during the time period; 
 determining based on the obtained incremental screed width data and incremental distance data an area of the surface paved during the time period; and 
 determining, based on the determined incremental quantity of material delivered to the screed and the determined area of the surface paved, paving material yield at one or more spots of the surface. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises providing the determined material yield as material yield information to at least one of a quality control system or a paver control system to facilitate an adjustment to one or more paving operation parameters. 
     
     
       21. A computer program product for facilitating process control in a paving operation, the computer program product comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions for execution by the processor to perform a method comprising:
 obtaining paving material conveyance information for a time period during which paving material is delivered to a screed of a paver by a material conveyance system of the paver and distributed over a surface to be paved, the paving material conveyance information comprising material advance data indicating incremental advance of the paving material to the screed of the paver during the period of time, and the paving material conveyance information further comprising material quantity data indicating incremental quantity of the paving material at one or more points of the material conveyance system, wherein the material advance data and material quantity data are correlated to points in time during the time period at which the material advance data and material quantity data are acquired; 
 determining, by the processor, based on the obtained paving material conveyance information, incremental quantity of paving material delivered to the screed for the points in time during the time period to facilitate process control in the paving operation; 
 obtaining location information indicating location of the paver at the points in time during the time period; 
 obtaining paved mat dimensional information, the paved mat dimensional information comprising linear distance traveled by the paver, width of one or more portions of the screed over the linear distance traveled by the paver, and incremental quantity of material for the points in time during the time period; and 
 associating the paved mat dimensional information with the location information to obtain a time-referenced material placement map, the time-referenced material placement map comprising a departure dimension corresponding to the linear distance traveled by the paver, a screed width dimension corresponding to width of the one or more portions of the screed over the linear distance traveled by the paver, and a yield dimension indicating one or more quantities of material delivered to the screed and laid at various spots of the paved mat, and the time-referenced material placement map indicating timing of delivery of the one or more quantities of material to the various spots of the paved mat. 
 
 
     
     
       22. The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein the method further comprises:
 determining, based on the time-referenced material placement map and further based on one or more parameters of a compaction effort for compacting the paving material after placement on the surface, roller guidance information to facilitate controlling operation of a roller, wherein the roller guidance information indicates current roller position of the roller and proper roller positioning of the roller on the time-referenced material placement map; and 
 providing the roller guidance information to the roller to facilitate proper compaction of the paving material.